HSNi Q1 Net Drops 23.3 Percent

Net sales in the quarter, which ended on March 31, rose a bare 0.6 percent to $777.4 million. The results included a 1 percent decline in HSN's sales and a pickup of 5 percent in the Cornerstone unit. "Similar to the overall retail sector, our results were impacted in the first quarter partially due to severe weather across the country, and softness in women's apparel, particularly at Garnet Hill," said Mindy Grossman, HSNi's CEO.

Gross margin was down 89 basis points to 35.47 percent. Selling, general and administrative expenses edged up 2.5 percent in dollars and 53 basis points as a percentage of sales, to 28.7 percent.

Looking ahead, Grossman said HSNi is seeing "improved performance....I believe our opportunity to drive growth remains intact, and we are pleased with the areas of strength that we demonstrated during the quarter, including an increase in digital penetration of 220 basis points to 47 percent, mobile growth of 44 percent and reaching our highest customer levels to date."